French Open runner
Norway’s Casper Ruud defeated Italy’s Matteo Berrettini 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-2 in the final of the Swiss Open in Gstaad on Sunday. The triumph is the ninth title of the 23-year-old’s career, all of which have come at ATP 250 level, and eight of which have been on clay.
Second seed Berrettini, still reeling from the disappointment of missing out on Wimbledon due to COVID-19, was on a 12-match winning streak before the final. The Italian won titles in Stuttgart and Queens on grass, and reached the final in Gstaad after dominant displays against the likes of Richard Gasquet and the resurgent Dominic Thiem.
Ruud, the top seed and defending champion in Gstaad, came into the tournament on the back of the best season of his career, having reached the final at the Miami Masters and Roland Garros. His draw was relatively more favourable, and he did not lose a single set till the final.
Berrettini consolidated an early break to win the first set, before a nervy second set where Ruud had to dig deep — and save three break points — to force the match into a tiebreaker. The Norwegian took total control of proceedings after an impressive display in the tiebreaker, breaking twice to win the deciding set.
The 23-year-old asserted that winning his serve was important for the conditions, as well as while coming up against a big server like Berrettini.
“I changed [things] up a little bit in the third set especially, which helped,” Ruud said in his on-court interview. “The games and the points go by here fast. If you are not ready and focussed, you can get broken or you can break, because the conditions allow you to.
Comeback Casper 💪
The moment @CasperRuud98 defeated Berrettini from a set down to capture the 2022 Gstaad title! pic.twitter.com/bYYnd7mLJ0
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) July 24, 2022
“So it was key for me to hold my serve, I did that in the second set. Saving those break points was very important for me and everything went in my favour in the tie-break.”
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Berrettini’s loss of ranking points at Wimbledon has meant that he will stay well outside the top 10 of the ranking. Ruud, on the other hand, will lose his place in the world’s top 5 to Spanish teenage sensation Carlos Alcaraz.
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